Office of the Vice President for Research

The Office of the Vice President for Research is excited to announce the launch of the University of Utah Research Foundation (UURF) Interdisciplinary Research Initiative. This new initiative evolved from the Research Incentive Seed Grand Program and is aligned with emerging local, national, and global research priorities. Please see below for key details and deadlines. The full RFP can be found HERE.

An informational town hall will be held via Zoom on Friday, August 15th from 10:00-11:00 AM. We strongly encourage you to attend and bring your questions to the town hall. Registration is required and can be submitted here: https://lu.ma/r298pd58. If you cannot attend the town hall, please direct your questions to vprgrants@utah.edu.

Thank you!

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Program Description

The UURF Interdisciplinary Research Initiative is designed to produce use-inspired research and outcomes that will address national priorities, global competitiveness and strong economic futures. Proposals must be aligned with one or more of the 24 emerging priority areas outlined in the VPR strategic plan (see ‘Emerging Priorities’ section of the RFP).

The primary outcome for this program is to support investigators in producing external funding proposal submissions. Exemplary proposals will be focused on use-inspired research and demonstrate a clear timeline and proposal development plan for extramural submissions. For purposes of this RFP, use-inspired research is driven by the potential use of the knowledge it generates.

Applications must be submitted by teams with personnel from two or more different units. Teams should focus on bringing together researchers from different fields-of-study, departments, colleges, units, and other intellectual or organizational divides to pursue groundbreaking use-inspired research. Industry and philanthropic partners can be considered as units of participation.

The program has two tracks:

Track 1: Seed Grants

• Track 1 provides a smaller amount of funding and is designed to support early stages of a research project. Seed grants are typically awarded for the first phases of a project.
• The total allowable budget for Track 1 proposals is up to $50,000. Matching funds are required and must equal or exceed 30% of the requested budget. Example: If a Track 1 project requests the full $50,000 budget, the award breakdown would be $35,000 in UURF funds and $15,000 in matching funds.
• Deadline: 11:59 PM MST on Thursday, October 23rd, 2025.
• Apply for Track 1 here via InfoReady

Track 2: Large Impact Grants

• Track 2 provides a larger amount of funding and is designed to significantly expand or scale-up existing work for broader impact or application. Large impact grants are not typically awarded for the first phases of a project but will be applicable once a project has mature data, etc. and is ready to be scaled up.
• The total allowable budget for Track 2 proposals is up to $250,000. Matching funds are required and must equal or exceed 30% of the requested budget. Example: If a Track 2 project requests the full $250,000 budget, the award breakdown would be $175,000 in UURF funds and $75,000 in matching funds.
• Deadline: 11:59 PM MST on Thursday, March 19th, 2026.
• Apply for Track 2 here via InfoReady